Festooning device



Dec. 2, 1952 J. H. KYLE ET AL FESTOONING DEVICE Filed Jun 28, 1950 4SheetsSheet l m w m JOSEPH H. KYLE JOHN Q. ADAMS [21.5w (LBRUNNER M WATTORNEY Dec. 2, 1952 J. H. KYLE ETAL 2,620,183

FESTOONING DEVICE Filed June 28, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOSEPHH. KYLE JOHN Q.ADAM$ WILBUR C. BRUNNER 11m AL-M ATTORNEY Dec. 2, 1952 J.H. KYLE ET AL FESTOONING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 28, 1950INVENTOR JOSEPH H. KYLE R E N N U R B c. w win JOHN Q. ADAMS on 0600'0000 00000000000 onooo a a a an 0000 a: a u an ocean Y E N R O n A Dec.2, 1952 J. H. KYLE ET AL FESTOONING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June28, 1950 INVENTOR JOSEPH H. KYLE JOHN Q, ADAMS WILBUR (LBRUNNEH Mammal?ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 2, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FESTOONINGDEVICE of Pennsylvania Application June 28, 1950, Serial No. 170,862

18 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a festooning device and is particularly usefulin the handling of uncured webs of linoleum and the like where the uppersurface of the web is readily susceptible to damage or marring ifengaged by conventional bight-making or bight-holding devices.

In the manufacture of linoleum it is frequently necessary to accumulatethe web during fabrication operations as, for instance, between thesheeting or facing calender and a curing stove or oven into which thematerial is delivered from the calender. When one stove is filled, it isnecessary to shift transfer equipment from the filled stove to anotherstove to be filled; and during this time interval it is desirable tokeep the calender in operation producing material. Thus it is customaryto provide an arrangement for accumulating the calendered goods forsubsequent delivery to the stoves. Such accumulators generally receivethe calendered material in continuous web form; and, since the festoonswhich are hung in the accumulator are of less length than the festoonshung in the stoves, it is undesirable to engage the surface of thematerial at the accumulator battens, as is customary in bight making andbight holding, because the portions thus damaged will not coincide withthe batten positions when the material is hung in the stoves.

It has been proposed to engage the material adjacent the selvage edge inthe accumulator operation, but this is impracticable because ofinadequate selvage width; and with heavy products like linoleum, theconcentration of forces at the edges results in tears which sometimesextend across the full width of the goods and the web falls from theaccumulator.

In the bight holding or festoon holdin end of the accumulator where theweb is delivered from the accumulator, the festoon draped over anoncoming batten must be held against slipping or sliding as the web inthe festoon bein withdrawn is depleted, and also the grip on thematerial at the oncoming batten must be released at the instant thefestoon being withdrawn is fully depleted to avoid tearing of the webdue to the tension applied by the pull roll which withdraws the web fromthe accumulator. Mechanical bight holders which engage the surface areobjectionable for the same reasons as the corresponding bight makers.The problem of accurately timing the release of the bight holder is alsoacute.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a festooning devicefor bight making or bight holding including means for automaticallyholding the web stationary on the batten 2 throughout a substantialportion at least of the full width of the web as the festoon is formedor an adjacent festoon withdrawn.

Another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement which willeifect festoon making and holding without engagement with the surface ofthe web and which will perform its functions automatically.

A further object of the invention is to provide a festoon holder whichwill permit the withdrawal of material from the battens without thenecessity for any timing arrangement for releasing the hold of thematerial onto the batten.

Other objects of the invention will be clear from a consideration of thefollowing description of certain preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings which accompanying this application,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of an accumulator including thearrangement of the present invention in bight-making position;

Figure 2 is a view partially in section showing the device of thepresent invention as a bight maker;

Figure 3 is a partial sectional view taken on the line III-III of Figure2;

Figure 4 is a detailed view partially in section of the device of Figure2;

Figure 5 is a front elevation of a hollow, perforated batten formingparts of the present invention; and

Figure 6 is a view partially broken away illustrating the festooningdevice in festoon-holding r or bight-holding position.

Referring to Figure l which illustrates diagrammatically the generalarrangement of a web accumulator for a calendering operation such as inplain linoleum manufacture, a web of backin material 2 such as burlap orwaterproofed felt is fed between rolls 3 and l of a calender 5, and abody of linoleum mix 8 is calendered onto the face of the backing web. Asecond or finishing calender is sometimes provided in tandem with thecalender 5. The backing web with its applied layer of linoleumcomposition is transferred as a web W to a heated curing oven or stovewhere the material is hung in festoons and cured. In order to operatethe calender 5 continuously, regardless of interruptions which may occurin the delivery of the goods to the curing stove such as when thetransfer carriage which is used to deliver the goods into the stove ismoved from one stove upon the completion of filling thereof to the nextstove, an accumulator I is provided where the goods may be hung infestoons while awaiting delivery into the curing stoves.

In handling materials such as linoleum in an accumulator, the festooningmust be accomplished without contact with the face of the goods; for inits uncured state, linoleum is rather soft and readily susceptible tomarring and other damage. It is desirable, therefore, to provide anarrangement which will form the web of material into festoons withoutcontact with the upper surface of the linoleum. A selvage edge is alwaysprovided for trimming the web to the desired dimensions, but with heavywebs such as plain linoleum, engagement at such edges is inadequate tohold the heavy web during festoon formation. In addition, the marginalselvage portion is relatively narrow to avoid expensive scrap loss, andthis militates against so-called edge bight making in festoon formationbecause of the problem of guiding the web accurately as it is fed to theaccumulator.

The web accumulator I is shown in the righthand portion of Figure 1. Itcomprises a pair of chain conveyors 8, one disposed upon each side ofthe accumulator. (Only one is shown in the drawings.) The chains 8 carrya plurality of battens 9 and are mounted upon sprockets I0, the chainsbeing driven in synchronism with the calender to present a batten 9 atthe desired location for the formation of a new festoon II upon deliveryof sufficient web material to the accumulator to complete the formationof a previous festoon, the festoon I2 for example. The Web is fed over asmooth-faced idling guide roll I3 and is delivered to the accumulator Iby a driven pull roll I4 which is covered with carding or somefrictional material which will insure proper traction between the web Wand the roll I4. Also, suction may be applied to the roll I4,particularly where heavy webs are encountered. A guide plate P isprovided over which the web travels in its movement into theaccumulator.

In the formation of festoons, the web is delivered by the pull roll I4and slides over the guide plate P and over the curved surface of theoncoming batten 9a, falling by gravity into a festoon. During thisfestoon formation, the chains 8 are moving slowly and conveying thebatten 9a toward the right as shown in Figure 1. When the web has beenformed into a festoon of the desired length, the batten So will havemoved to approximately the position of batten 9b. It is necessary toarrest the sliding movement of the web over the batten 9b as the festoonII is initially being formed; and as soon as the sliding movement isarrested, new festoon II automatically forms. This arresting of themovement of the web relative to the batten is known as bight making. Itis necessary to hold the web stationary in the completed festoon I2until the newly forming festoon II has sufficient weight when combinedwith the frictional drag of the web on the batten 9b to prevent anyslippage of the web over the batten 9b due to the greater weight of theweb in the completed festoon I 2 than in the forming festoon I I. Thisusually requires that the forming festoon II be about one thirdcompleted before the holding force on the web over batten 9b isreleased. This timing will depend, of course, upon the weight of theweb, the frictional characteristics of the back surface of the web andthe batten, and other variable factors.

The device of the present invention may be used in bight making and willperform such operation completely automatically.

A problem similar to bight making occurs at the exit end of anaccumulator or looper, for as the web is withdrawn from the travellingbattens, it is necessary to hold the web against slippage on an oncomingbatten as the material is removed from a preceding festoon, especiallyduring the period of withdrawal when the weight of the remaining portionof the festoon coupled with the frictional drag of the web over thebatten is inadequate to prevent slippage between the batten and the webin the oncoming festoon. The device of the present invention willperform the function of properly holding the web fully automatically andwill obviate the requirement for accurately timed mechanical movementsfor releasing the grip between the web and the batten as the removal ofa festoon is completed.

A preferred form of the device is shown in Figures 2 to 5 disposed as anautomatic bight maker and in Figure 6 as a festoon or bight holder.Considering first the device as a bight maker, it comprises essentiallya suction head I5 which is mounted for sliding movement along the pathof travel of the battens 9 so as to hold the completed festoon until theforming festoon has been adequately made to prevent displacement of thecompleted festoon. The suction head I5 is pivoted for rotary movement sothat it may ride up and over the battens upon completion of each bightto return to a position in the path of movement of the oncoming battenupon which the next bight is to be made.

A frame 16 made of channels I! and I8 and angle end plates I9 and 20 issupported on the framework 2! of the accumulator and carries the suctionhead and its associated mechanism, including a pair of bearing guides orways 22 and 23 which are secured to end members I9a and 29a attached tothe angle end plates I9 and 2D. A cam plate 24 is bolted to the bearingguide 22, and spacers 25 are provided for positioning the members inproperly spaced relationship. A lower space plate 26 is secured to thelower bearing guide 23 and abuts the surface of the cam plate 24. Aslide bearing 21 is mounted for longitudinal movement in the bearingguides 22 and 23. A shaft 28 for the suction head passes through thecenter of the bearing 2! and has pinned thereon, on one end thereof, asuction head mounting arm 29, and fixed on the other end thereof a camfollower arm 30. An antifriction cam follower roller 3| is journalled onshaft 32 secured to arm 30 and is positioned to follow a cam surface 33cut into the cam plate 24. The cam surface 33 is so contoured thatdesired movements are imparted to the suction head mounting arm in timedrelationship with the traversing of the battens sequentially along aportion of their path of travel.

The suction head arm 29 has a boss 34 (Figure 4) projecting therefromthrough which is received a pipe 35 to which is connected a flexiblehose 36 leading to a vacuum pump 31 shown in Figure 1. The other end ofthe pipe 35 carries a rubber suction cup 38 having a central openingtherein coaxial with the pipe 35. An antifriction lifting andpositioning roller 39 (Figures 2 and 4) is mounted in the bifurcatedlower end of the suction head arm 29. This roller 39 engages the battens9 above the center thereof when in its normal at rest position andserves first to position the suction cup 38 on the batten with adownward sliding movement over the batten and also serves to elevate thesuction head over the battens upon completion of each bight, as will bemore fully described.

A counterweight arrangement is provided for returning the suction headto its bight-making position upon completion of the making of a bight onone batten and preparatory to making a bight on the next oncomingbatten. As shown in Figure 2, this includes a cable 46, one end of whichis secured to the slide bearing 21, a sheave 4H secured to angle endplate 20 of the frame IS, a sheave 52 secured to the upper verticalframework 2 la of the accumulator, and a weight 43 attached to the otherend of the cable Mi. A rubber limiting stop S is secured in the guidewayof bearing way 722 to limit movement of the slide bearing 2'5.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the battens 9 are hollow and are providedwith a plurality of perforations 44 which extend from the outer surfaceof the batten to the hollow interior. These openings are provided inthat portion of the surface over which the web material slides duringfestoon formation. Thus the openings are normally closed by engagementof the web with the batten. The openings are preferably quite small insize in order not to excessively deform the surface of the linoleum.Holes about in diameter will be satisfactory. A larger opening 35 isprovided adjacent one edge of the batten which, as shown in Figure l,lies beyond the edge 56 of the web W to be festooned. The battens areprovided with mounting brackets ii by which they are secured to thechains 8 which carry them.

Preferably the suction head it is connected to the vacuum pump 37through a control valve as (Figure 2) connected by a pipe line as to thevacuum pump 3'! (Figure 1). A manual control valve 50 is provided in theline 49, and a vacuum gauge 5! is also inserted in the line 49.Operation of the valve 48 may be controlled by an actuating arm 52 whichis pivoted at 53 and bears against the plunger 54 which controls theopening and closing of the valve it. The valve s8 is mounted on theaccumulator frame structure 2! and is so positioned that the operatingarm 52 lies in the path of travel of the battens 9. Thus when the batten@c (Figure 2) is in the position shown it will have depressed thecontrol arm 52, opening the valve 48 through the plunger 54, and thesuction head It which is in operating position on batten 9b will havebeen connected to the vacuum pump 3'! through the line t9, the flexibletube 36, and the suction cup 38. This arrangement is so adjusted thatthe application of suction to the head is effected immediately afterengagement of the suction cup 38, with the batten 9 surrounding theopening d5 therein. The length of the actuating arm 52 is such that whenthe festoon il being made has been developed to an adequate extent toprevent slippage of the completed festoon [2 over the batten 9b, theapplication of suction to the batten 9a will be discontinued.

In the operation of the device as a bight maker, the web W is fed by thepull roll M over the guide plate P and into a festoon. It will beassumed that the counterweight 43 will have moved the suction head tothe extreme left, as viewed in Figure 2, and the cam follower 3! willhave positioned the arm 29 in a location where the suction cup 38 willlie in the path of movement of the oncoming batten 9b to engage thesame, the suction cuppreferably being disposed slightly above its finalseated position on the batten by reason of the positioning of the camfollower in an upwardly inclined portion 33a of the cam plate 24. Thepositioning and lifting roller 39 will be engaged by the oncomingbatten, and this will cause the suction cup 38 to he slid downwardlyinto its final seated position into engagement with the oncoming batten9b. At the same time, the batten Will have actuated the arm 52 and thevalve 48 will have been opened, connecting the suction cup 33 with thevacuum pump 3?, and suction will be applied to batten 9b causingatmospheric pressure to force the web W into firm engagement with thebatten 9?) at the openings Q4 therein, preventing any slippage of theweb W relative to the batten 912. As the delivery of the web W by thepull roll Ill continues, the festoon II will be formed, the materialdescending by gravity in a loop as indicated. As this operationproceeds, the chains 8 will continue their motion, carrying all of thebattens 9 alon their path of travel. As the battens move, the suctionhead it which lies in engagement with the batten 91) will be traversedto the right as seen in Figure 2, being guided by the slide bearing 2'!moving in the guiding ways 22 and 23. The cam surface 33 is flat asindicated at 3%, and thus the cam follower s! will maintain the suctionhead in a position where it is in proper engagement with the batten 9bto continue the application of suction as the batten 9b moves alon andas festoon I I is formed. Engagement of the batten 90 with the arm 52 ofsuction control valve 48 continues, insuring that the Web W will be heldagainst slippage relative to the batten 9'0. After an adequate festoon Hhas been formed, the cam follower 3! will be urged up the inclinedportion 330 of the cam; and at the same time or immediately precedingsuch time, the valve at will be closed by reason of th batten 90 havingpassed beyond the end of the actuating arm 52 of suction control valved8, thus discontinuing the application of suction to the head and makingit possible for the suction cup 38 to be removed readily from the batten92), by the cam follower 3i riding up the inclined portion 330 of thecam, rotating shaft 28, and pivoting the suction head arm 29. Roller 39which lies in engagement With the surface of the batten 9b above thecenter thereof aids in directing the lifting of the suction head overthe batten with a rolling and pivoting motion as the batten 9b is movedtherebelow. As soon as the roller 39 reaches the uppermost portion ofthe batten 9b, the counterweight 43 will return the suction head to itsat rest position where the cam follower 3! will have positioned the arm29 so that the suction cup 38 will lie in the path of travel of the nextoncoming batten, slightly above the desired final position on thebatten, so as to be brought into engagement with the batten and sliddownwardly in engagement with an area surrounding the opening 45therein. Thereupon, suction will be applied through automatic control ofthe valve M3 by the batten 9b, which will have moved to the positionoccupied by batten 9c in the drawing, and the operation will berepeated.

While it is preferred to have the chains 6 carry the battenscontinuously and make the bight while the battens are in motion, it ispossible, of course, to move the battens intermittently in a stepwisemanner. For instance, the motion of chains 8 could be such that batten9a would be traversed from its position shown in Figure 2 uponcompletion of festoon H to the position of batten 9b; and during suchintermittent motion the suction head l would be elevated over batten 9b,returned to its at rest position by the counerweight 43, and engaged bythe oncoming batten 9a. Thereupon, the motion of the chains 8 would bearrested until a new festoon were formed, suction being applied duringsuch festoon formation, at least until such portion thereof were formedas necessary to hold the previously formed festoon against displacement.

In Figure 6 the device is shown attached to an accumulator carriagewhere it serves as a bight holder or festoon holder. The carriagestructure 53 has mounted thereon a pull roll 54 which may befriction-surfaced or provided with a suction arrangement. It serves towithdraw the Web material from the accumulator. As shown, the pull rollis withdrawing from a festoon 55, and the suction head 58 of the festoonholder is moving with batten 9d which carries the oncoming festoon 51and prevents the web from sliding over the surface of batten 9d,assuming that the weight of the festoon 55 plus the normal frictionaldrag of the web on the batten 9d are inadequate to prevent suchslipping. The openings M in the roll 9d continue to hold the web infestoon 5! as festoon 55 is depleted. The web then is in effect peeled01f batten 90! over the openings 44 by pull roll 55. This avoids anyneed for timing of mechanical motions and insures that the Web willremain under substantial tension as it is pulled by pull roll 54, forwhen the web is peeled from batten 9d the weight of festoon 51 Will holdthe portion of the Web extending from the pull roll 54 to the bottom ofthe dip of the festoon 51 under tenson.

It will be noted that the suction head and associated mechanism issubstantially the same as in the bight-maker arrangement of Figures 2 to5. However, since the bight holder is mounted on the carriage 53 whichis movable over the battens 9, it is necessary to provide for thesuction head mechanism 56 to be freely elevated when the carriage ismoved to the left in Figure 6. This may be accomplished by having thesuction head mounting arm 58 slotted as indicated at 59 with a cap screw80 passing through the slot into the shaft 6| which carries the arm 58and the cam follower arm 62. Thus when the carriage is moved to theleft, positioning and elevating roller 63 on the suction head arm 58will be engaged by the batten 9e, and the arm 58 will be pivoted aboutthe shaft 8!, with the cap screw 80 serving to limit downward movementof the shaft after the roller 53 passes over the top of batten Se andany other batten which may be overridden by the suction head 56. Innormal operation when a web is being pulled from the accumulator, thecarriage 53 will not be traversed to the left; but, as the accumulatoris being filled, it may be necessary to traverse the carriage 53 to theleft in order to accumulate an adequate number of festoons of material,depending upon the length of time the stoving operation is shut down andthe goods must be accumulated.

The control valve arrangement 54 is similar to the control valvearrangement 48 on the bight maker end of the machine, except that it isspaced a greater distance from the batten 9d upon which the suction headoperates. ihe arrangement is such, however, that suction is applied tothe batten 9d as it moves along its path of travel and prior to the timewhen the weight of the festoon 55 is inadequate to overcome any slippagein festoon 51. The arrangement is also such that after the web has beenstripped from the batten 9d, the application of suction to that battenis discontinued in order to conserve the supply of vacuum pressureprovided by the vacuum pump 31. Suction may be applied continuously,however, since no timing of the gripping action is necessary in thebight-holding or festoon-holding operation, as mentioned above.

We claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of: a pluralityof battens spaced for supporting a web in festoons, said battens beingmovable along a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surface thereof over Which the festooned web will lie,a reciprocable suction head positioned in the path of travel of saidbattens and engageable sequentially therewith for applying suctionthereto through said passageway, and means for guiding said suction headto move in a reciprocatory path with said engaged batten along a portionof the path of movement thereof during the application of suctionthereto and return to a position for engagement with the next oncomingbatten.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of: a pluralityof battens spaced for supporting a web in festoons, said battens beingmovable along a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surface thereof over which the festooned web will lie,a reciprocable suction head positioned in the path of travel of saidbattens and engageable sequentally therewith for applying suctionthereto through said passageway, means for guiding said suction head tomove in a reciprocatory path with said engaged batten along a portion ofthe path of movement thereof during the application of suction theretoand return to a position for engagement with the next oncoming batten,and means for disengaging said suction head from said batten with whichit is in engagement as the batten moves along said path.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of: a pluralityof battens spaced for supporting a web in festoons, said battens beingmovable along a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surface thereof over which the festooned web will lie,a reciprocable suction. head positioned in the path of travel of saidbattens and engageable sequentially therewith for applying suctionthereto through said passageway, means for mounting said suction headfor limited movement along the path of said battens for coincidentalmovement of said head while in engagement with one of said movingbattens, means for controlling the application of suction to saidsuction head to apply suction thereto during movement thereof, and meansfor returning said suction head to a position for engagement with thenext oncoming batten.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of: a pluralityof battens spaced for supporting a web in festoons, said battens being,movable along a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surface thereof over which the festooned web will lie,a reciprocable suction head positioned in the path of travel of saidbattens and engageable sequentially therewith for applying suctionthereto through said passageway, means for mounting said suction headfor limited sliding movement in the direction of travel of said battensupon engagement of said head by a mov- 9 ing batten to apply suction tosaid batten during movement thereof with said suction head and to returnto a position for engagement with the next oncoming batten, and meansfor disengaging said suction head from said batten as the batten movesalong said path.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality ofbattens spaced for supporting a web in festoons, said battens beingmovable along a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surface thereof over which the festooned web will lie,a reciprocable suction head, means for mounting said suction head alongthe path of travel of said battens for sequential engagement of saidsuction head by said battens as they move along their path of travel forapplying suction thereto through said passageway, means fixed withrespect to said movable battens for disengaging said suction headsequentially from said battens after movement of said suction headtherewith through a predetermined portion of the path travelled by saidbattens, and means for returning said suction head to a position forengagement with the next oncoming batten.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality ofbattens spaced for supporting a web in festoons, said battens beingmovable along a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surface thereof over which the festooned web will lie,a suction head positioned in the path of travel of said battens andengageable sequentially therewith for applying suction thereto throughsaid passageway, means for mounting said suction head for limitedmovement along the path of saic battens for coincidental movement ofsaid head while sequentially in engagement with one of said movingbattens, and means controlled by movement of said battens forautomatically applying suction to said suction head.

'7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pluralityof battens spaced for supporting a web in f estoons, said battens beingmovable along a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surface thereof over which the festooned web will lie,a suction head positioned in the path of travel of said battens andengageable sequentially therewith for applying suction thereto throughsaid passageway, an arm which carries said suction head, a fixed cammounted along the path of said battens, and a cam follower attached tosaid suction head arm for imparting a pivotal move ment to said suctionhead arm upon movement of said follower along said fixed cam todisengage said suction head from the batten with which it is inengagement as the batten moves along said path.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality ofbattens spaced for supporting a web in festcons, said battens beingmovable along a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surface thereof over which the festooned web will lie,a reciprocable suction head positioned in the path of travel of saidbattens and engageable sequentially therewith for applying suctionthereto through said passageway, means for guiding said suction head tomove with said battens along a portion of the path of movement of saidbattens during the application of suction thereto, means for disengagingsaid suction head from a batten with which it is in engagement, meansfor elevat- 10 and means for moving said suction head in a directionopposed to the direction of movement of said battens to position saidhead for engage ment with an oncoming batten.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination of: a pluralityof battens spaced for supporting a web in festoons, said battens beingmovable along a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surface thereof over which the festooned web will lie;a suction head positioned in the path of travel of said battens andengageable sequentially therewith for applying suction thereto throughsaid passageway; and means for mounting said suction head for limitedlongitudinal and pivotal movement including a slide bearing mounted-inways, a shaft carrying said suction head journalled in said slidebearing, and a cam fixed with respect to said suction head controllingthe pivotal movement of said suction head through said shaft duringsliding movement of said slide bear ing.

, 10. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pluralityof battens spaced for supporting a web in festoons, said battens beingmovable along a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surface thereof over which the festooned web will lie;a suction head positioned in the path of travel of said battens andengageable sequentially therewith for applying suction thereto throughsaid passageway; and means for mounting said suction head for limitedlongitudinal and pivotal movement including a slide bearing mounted inways, a shaft journalled in said bearing, a suction head arm mounted onsaid shaft for pivotal movement therewith, a cam follower arm alsomounted on said shaft for applying rotative movement thereto, and a camfixed with respect to said slide bearing and shaft which said camfollower engages, said cam being contoured to hold said suction head inthe path of travel of an oncoming batten to hold said suction head inengagement with said batten after engagement of the suction headtherewith and to part said suction head and batten by pivotal movementof said suction head arm after a predetermined period of movement ofsaid suction head and batten in unison.

11. In a device of the class described, the combination of a suctionhead, a batten movable along a path intersecting said suction head, asuction cup on said head, said suction cup being engageable with saidbatten, said batten havin an opening therein for alignment with anopening in said suction cup, means for positioning said suction cup withits opening out of axial alignment with said opening in said batten, andmeans controlled by movement of said batten relative to said suction cupto slide said suction cup over the surface of said batten to bring saidopenings into substantially axial alignment.

12. In a device of the class described, the combination of: a pluralityof battens movable along a predetermined path, a suction head forsequential engagement with said battens, said suction head being mountedupon a suction head arm which is capable of limited pivotal movement,and a roller carried by said suction head arm and sequentiallyengageable with the surface of said battens for lifting said suctionhead sequentially over said battens upon relative movement between saidsuction head and said batten with which said roller is in engagement.

13. In a device of the class described, the com- 11 bination of: aplurality of battens spaced for supporting a web in festoons, saidbattens being movable. along a predetermined path and. each batten beingprovided with a passageway at the surface thereof over which thefestooned web will lie, a suction head positioned in the path of travelof said battens and engageable sequentially therewith for applyingsuction thereto through said passageway, means for guiding said suctionhead to move sequentially with said battens along a portion of the pathof movement thereof during the application of suction thereto; meanscontrolled by movement of said battens for effecting the discontinuanceof suction, and means for disengaging said suction head from a battenwith which it is in engagement timed with respect to the application ofsuction to. effect disengagement after the suction has beendiscontinued.

14. In an automatic. bight maker, the combination of: a plurality ofbattens. spaced for supporting a web in festoons, each of said battensbeing provided with a passageway at the surface thereof, means fordelivering web material to be festooned; with the web as. deliveredsliding over the passageway in they batten and closing the passageway atthe surface of said batten, and means controlled by movement of said.battens for applying suction to said passageway as said web material issliding thereover to automatically arrest said sliding movement and forma in said' Web over said batten.

15. In an automatic bight maker, the combination of: a plurality ofbattens spaced for supporting a web in festoons, said battens beingmovable along a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surface thereof over which the festooned web will.lie, means for delivering web material: to be festooned over saidbattens sequentially with the web as delivered sliding over thepassageway in the batten which will support the web in a festoon, asuction head, means controlled by movement of said battens forautomatically applying suction to said passageway of the batten covaered by said web to arrest movement between said web and batten whensaid batten has assumed a predetermined position along its path oftravel, and means for moving said suction headand batten in unison tohold said web against relative movement with respect to said battenduring festoonformation.

16. In an automatic festoon holder, the combination of: a plurality ofbattens spaced for supporting a web in festoons, said battens beingmovablealong a predetermined path and each batten being provided with apassageway at the surf-acethereof over which the festooned web will lie,a carriage movable with respect to said battens along a. portion of thepath of travel thereof, av suction head positioned onsaid carriage inthe path of travel of said battens and engageable sequentially therewithfor applying suction thereto to hold said web against displacement onsaid batten, and a pull roll mountedon said carriage for withdrawing webmaterial sequentially from said battens against the atmospheric pressurethereon in the area above said passageway.

17. In an automatic; festoon holder, the combination of: a plurality ofbattens spaced for supporting, a web in festoons, said battens beingmovable along a. predetermined path and each batten being provided witha passageway at the surface thereof over which; the festooned web will.lie, a carriage movable with respect tov said battens along a portion ofthe path of travel thereof, a suction head mounted on said carriage. andnormally lying in. the path of. travel of said battens and engageablesequentially therewith for applying suction thereto, and means carriedby said suction head for moving the same over said battens as saidcarriage is moved with respect to said battens.

18. In a device of the class described, the combination of a suctionhead, means supporting said suction head for reciprocatory motion inways along a substantially horizontal path, means engageable with saidsuction head to move said supporting means in one direction ofreciprocation, a fixed cam positioned along said horizontal path ofmotion of said suction head, a cam follower engageable with said cam,se-

. cured to said suction head, and effective for im- REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 677,062 Combs June 25, 19012,030,744 Clark Feb. 11, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date466,210 Germany Oct. 4, 1928

